Akum Longchari is a political activist, and an educationist. He completed his graduation and LLB from Delhi University and did his Masters in Conflict transformation in the US. He is the Managing Director of the paper, The Morung Paper and also pursuing his doctoral studies. He is also the co-founder of a non-profit foundation Morung for Indigenous Affairs and Just Peace. The range of activities of the Morung Foundation, involve study and research, publication and media, humanitarian service, art and creative work, training and workshops to awaken the consciousness of the Naga people.

Babloo Loitongbam is the Executive Director of Human Rights Alert (HRA). HRA is based in Imphal and conducts workshops and trainings to empower the victimized communities in Manipur and other North-eastern states by opening up access to human rights protection mechanism domestically (in the law court, Human Rights Commission etc.) as well as internationally (in the UN and other International NGOs). He is an Ashoka Fellow for this innovation activism. A Fulbright fellow, he has done a Master's degree in Conflict Transformation from the US and also holds a bachelor's degree in Law and Anthropology from Delhi University.

Bittu Sahgal is an environmentalist and the editor of Sanctuary magazine. He learned about natural history and environmental issues in the process of defending species and habitats over the years. His interest developed in this field when he took his leisure trips to sanctuaries and national parks. His magazine was born out of the promise made to Fateh Singh Rathore, Director of the Ranthanbore Tiger Reserve who suggested him to start a wildlife magazine for the city people who would learn to appreciate wildlife and do less damage to it. His key project involves saving the tiger and check import of toxic chemicals by Indian companies. A passionate cameraperson, Sahgal feels there is an environmentalist in each human being.

Bijan Mahajan is a lawyer at Guwahati High Court and has been advocating cases of ULFA leaders like Pradip Gogoi and ULFA political ideologue Bhimkanta Buragohain including the ULFA wives.

Dr. Lokendra Arambam is a culture and human rights activist. His concern for issues of identity, development and human rights is reflected in his theatre activities as well as his civil society pursuits. He has been the Head of Department in the Audio Visual Centre, Manipur University and also led the Apunba Lub delegation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November 2004 in the wake of Anti- AFSPA agitation in Manipur. He also made a documentary film called, 'Soldiers in Sarong' on the Meirai-Paibi of Manipur. Currently, he is the Executive Chairperson of United Nations Association, Manipur.

Mathew John is one of the directors of Keystone and looks after enterprise development, finance & administration. Keystone mainly works on issues of Natural Resources & Rural Development. It works to link the producer and the consumers through simple guarantee systems, which meet basic standards of organic certification. He has also been selected as a member from Asia for the IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) Task Force on Participatory Guarantee Systems.

Mani Shankar Aiyar is the Minister of Development of North East Region. He is also the Minister of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. He represents the Mayiladuthurai constituency of Tamil Nadu in the 14th Lok Sabha. He served the IFS for 26 years, the last five of which were on deputation to the Prime Minister's Office under Rajiv Gandhi (1985-89). He resigned from service in 1989 to take up a career in politics and the media. He is a special invitee to the Congress Working Committee and chairman of both the party's political training department and the department of policy planning and coordination. Besides, a well-known political columnist and he has also written several books, including Pakistan Papers and Remembering Rajiv.

Nalong Mize is the Chief Functionary and Director of Program Operations of Future Generations India. He spearheads the programs of Future Generations India in several states, particularly in Arunachal Pradesh through its local affiliate - Future Generations Arunachal. He has facilitated the launch of the Tsangyang Tgyatso World Peace Park (Biosphere Reserve) in the western part of Arunachal Pradesh and signed a MoU with the government of Arunachal Pradesh for training the Panchayat members of Arunachal Pradesh in the SEED-SCALE process of community empowerment. Before joining Future Generations India, Mize worked in Charities Aid Foundation India, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and PowerGrid Corporation of India. Mize sits on the board of EKJUT, a national NGO, working currently in the states of Jharkand, Orissa and Rajasthan and is also the Convener of Indo-Bhutan Friendship Association - Arunachal Chapter.

Prashant Bhushan is a civil lawyer and practices in the Supreme Court. He has been actively associated with many social causes including the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). He is a member of the Committee on Judicial Accountability that is dedicated to safeguarding the independence of the judiciary. Bhushan is also one of the founding members of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRL), which was launched in 1996 and works towards promoting greater transparency and accountability in government & society. As a direct result of NCPRL's decade long campaign, the Right to Information Act was passed in 2005.

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is a filmmaker. He started his career as an ad filmmaker and established Flicks Motion Picture Company Private Limited in 1996. He has directed a number of Television commercials for various Indian & International clients such as Pepsi, Coke, Toyota, BPL & American Express. His company's first full-length feature film Aks starring Amitabh Bachchan was moderately successful. His next film Rang De Basanti was a huge hit and has a cult following among the country's youth, establishing Mehra as an acclaimed director. He is currently working on his next film, Delhi 6.

R M Singh is an IPS officer of the 1984 batch and belongs to the Assam cadre. Since the beginning of his police career in Assam, Singh faced the upcoming terrorist and insurgency movements by the ULFA and Bodo outfits. Posted as SP in six districts of Assam, he faced the brunt of extremist violence. He has also worked for years in Kokrajhar - the hotbed of Bodo Movement. Currently, he is posted as IGP Border and deals with the issue of influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

Subir Raha is the Executive Vice Chairman of Hinduja Group India Ltd. and serves on several Boards as Independent / non-executive Director. He served as Chairman & Managing Director of ONGC Ltd. during 2001-06, and was concurrently the Chairman of ONGC Group Companies like ONGC Videsh Ltd., Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd., ONGC Mittal Energy Ltd., ONGC Tripura Power Company Ltd., Kakinada SEZ Ltd. etc. During his tenure, ONGC became the Most Valuable Company of India and globally, the No. 1 E&P (exploration & production) Company. He built OVL as India's biggest trans-national company, and achieved India's best and fastest turn-around of terminally sick MRPL. Earlier, he was Director (HR) of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. He has headed several NGOs like International Federation of Training & Development Organisations, All India Management Association, Standing Conference of Public Sector Enterprises etc. He serves on different capacities in FICCI, CII and Assocham. Awarded several fellowships and recognitions, he was globally selected as the "Petroleum Executive of 2005" by the Petroleum Economist, London.

Sanjay Barbora is the programme director of Panos Institute South Asia in Guwahati. He is also a Research Associate, North Eastern Social Research Centre. His professional areas of interest include ethnic conflicts; land relations and land use regimes; autonomy arrangements; oral history; human rights and trade union issues. He has worked extensively in Northeast India, Bihar and North Bengal, Nepal, Bangladesh.

14.Tarun Kumar Gogoi is the Chief Minister of Assam. In 1971, Mr. Gogoi was elected to the 5th Lok Sabha and was re-elected again in 1977,1983 1991,1998 and for the sixth time in 1999. In 1976, he became the Joint Secretary of All India Congress Committee. During 1991-93, he was the Union Minister of Food. From 1993 to 1995, he held the portfolio of Food Processing Industry as the Union Minister of State. During 1996-98, he was elected Member of Assam Legislative Assembly from Margherita Constituency. On 17th May, 2001, he assumed the Office of Chief Minister, Assam.

Ved Marwah is an Honorary Research Professor with the Centre for Policy Research and the former governor of Manipur, Mizoram and Jharkhand. A former member of the Indian Police Service, he has held many assignments in different states in India during his 36 year career. He headed the Marwah Commission which was set up in November 1984 to inquire into the role of the police during the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots but was later directed by the Rajiv Gandhi government to transfer the records to the newly appointed Mishra Commission.

16. Dr Walter Fernandes is on the committee of experts for the North East, in the National Commission for Women. He has 30 books, more than 100 professional articles and many newspaper articles to his credit. Most of his work has been on tribal livelihood, gender and development induced displacement. He has served the Indian Social Institute in New Delhi till 1999 in a variety of positions and also been the director of North Eastern Social Research Centre.